St Bede the Venerable was also known as Baeda or Beda.
He was an English Benedictine monk born in 673 AD in the Kingdom of Northumbria, in present-day Tyne and Wear, England.
He died in the same place on May 26 735 at the age of 61 or 62.
We celebrate his feast day on May 25 every year in the Catholic Church.
| St Bede the Venerable Biography | |
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| Date of Birth | 673 AD |
| Place of Birth | Jarrow, Northumbria, England |
| Profession | Monk, historian |
| Place of Work | Jarrow, Kingdom of Northumbria, England |
| Date of Death | May 26 735 (aged 61 or 62) |
| Place of Death | Jarrow, Kingdom of Northumbria (present-day Tyne and Wear, England) |
| Feast Day | May 25 |
| Canonization | By Pope Leo XIII in 1899 in Rome |
| Patron Saint of |
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St Bede the Venerable Life History
St Bede was born in the area belonging to the twin monastery of Monkwearmouth and Jarrow now in modern-day called Tyne and Wear.
At the age of seven, Bede was sent by his family as a puer oblatus to Monkwearmouth monastery of Saints Peter and Paul to be educated by Benedict Biscop and later by Ceolfrith.
He spent most of his life in the monastery, although he went across the British Isles visiting various abbeys and monasteries. He even visited King Ceolwulf of Northumbria and the archbishop of York.
As a renown author, teacher and scholar, St Bede was given the title “The Father of English History” after he wrote the Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
St Bede immersed himself in the academic discipline of computus, which involved the science of calculating calendar dates.
Bede tried to compute the date when the celebration of Easter was to be. He was also very instrumental in the quest to popularize the practice of having the calendar dates starting from the birth of Christ (Anno Domini – in the year of our Lord). This practice took root and was used extensively in medieval Europe.
Ceolfrith founded the monastery at Jarrow in 682 AD, and that year, Bede may have been transferred to Jarrow with Ceolfrith.
The dedication stone for the church is dated April 23 685, meaning Bede may have played a part in the building of the original church.
A plague broke out at Jarrow in the year 686 AD, and it is said that only two surviving monks were able to sing during the liturgy. One was a young boy taught by Ceolfrith (Certainly Bede) and the other was Ceolfrith himself.
Around 692 AD, when Bede was nineteen years old, he was ordained a deacon by bishop John, who was bishop of Hexham. He was ordained in 702 AD as a priest by Saint John of Beverley.
St Bede started to write his first works in the year 701 AD. He continued writing for the rest of his life and wrote over 60 books, most of which are there up to date.
Some monks at Hexham in 708 AD accused Bede of heresy in his work titled ‘De Temporibus’. St Bede, by himself, had calculated the age of the world, and concluded that Jesus Christ was born 3,952 years after the creation of the world, this was opposed to the figure commonly accepted by theologians at that time of over 5000 years.
Saint Bede the Venerable birth
He was born in 673 AD in the Kingdom of Northumbria, in present-day Tyne and Wear, England
Saint Bede the Venerable death
St Bede died on the floor of his cell on Thursday, May 26 735 during the Feast of the Ascension. He died singing “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit” and was buried at Jarrow.
St Bede Feast Day
The feast day os St Bede is celebrated on May 25 every year
Canonization
St Bede was declared a Doctor of the Church on November 13 1899 and canonized by Pope Leo XIII.
Veneration
St Bede is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Eastern Orthodox Church, and Lutheranism.
His Representation is
- Old monk with a jug
- Old monk with a book and pen
- Old monk reading or otherwise studying
- Old monk dying amidst his community
- Monk writing at a desk
St Bede the Venerable is the Patron Saint of
- English writers and historians;
- Jarrow,
- Tyne and Wear,
- England,
- San Beda University, Manila Philippines
- San Beda College Alabang, Manila Philippines
- Lectors
Today’s Saint Bede the Venerable Quote
”The more,” says the Imitation of Christ, “a man is united within himself and interiorly simple, so much the more and deeper things doth he understand without labor; for he receiveth the light of understanding from on high.”
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